IF YOU WANT CATS TO STEER CLEAR

There are several humane ways to discourage cats from visiting and disturbing your property:

• Cover all trash cans tightly.
• Install an ultrasonic animal repellent or a motion-activated water sprinkler like CatStop™ or ScareCrow™.
• Physically block or seal locations that cats are entering with chicken wire or lattice. Double-check that no cats or kittens will be trapped inside.
• Participate in Napa Humane’s Trap-Neuter-Return Program! Spaying/neutering helps to resolve and reduce many irritating cat behaviors, such as yowling, fighting and spraying.

To keep cats away from gardens, flower beds, or specific areas of property, scatter fragrant items that don’t appeal to a cat’s sense of smell, such as:

• fresh orange or lemon peels, organic citrus-scented sprays
• coffee grounds
• vinegar
• pipe tobacco
• oil of lavender, lemongrass, citronella, or eucalyptus
• the herb rue

To discourage digging in your gardens, landscaping or flower beds:

• Use plastic carpet runners, spiked-side up and covered lightly in soil, in gardens, flower beds, and other landscaping.
• Set chicken wire firmly into the dirt with sharp edges rolled under.
• Arrange branches in lattice-type patterns or use actual lattice fencing material over soil.
• Embed wooden chopsticks, pine cones, or sticks with dull points deep into the soil with the tops exposed eight inches apart.
• Pick up some Cat Scat™ plastic mats to press into the soil. The mats have flexible plastic spikes that are harmless to cats and other animals.
• Cover exposed ground in flower beds with large (and attractive) river rocks.

You can combat cat urine smell by spraying the area thoroughly with white vinegar or products using natural enzymes, such as Nature’s Miracle®, Fizzion Pet Stain & Odor Remover®, or Simple Solution®. This also helps to repel cats from the area.

Adapted from Alley Cat Allies. All rights reserved.